Drying-form



E. M.. WITHERELL.

DRYING FORM. n APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1919.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

1N @NT R.

'A7' ORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EARL M. WITHERELI, 0F DULUTH, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO F. A, PATRICK & COMPANY, 0F DULU'IH, MINNESOTA., A CORPORATION 0F MINNESOTA.

narrare-roam.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.,5, 1921.

Application filed. March 24, 1919. Serial No. 284,800.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL M. WITHERELL, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying-Forms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to garment-drying forms and has special reference to novel means for holding a garment in position on the form while it is being dried and shaped.

The necessity for a device of this nature is well known to those versed in the art and theprincipal object of the present invention is to provide such means of simple construction and positive action and one that may be readily applied to forms already in'use.

Other objects and advantages of the peculiar construction will appear in the further description of the invention.

Drying forms referred to, upon which garments-such as mittens, gloves and hosiery-are placed for drying and shaping, are usually provided with a somewhat narrowed portion adjacent the base of the form and which the open extremity of the garment surrounds after being placed upon the form. It is upon this portion that the holding means embodying the present invention is shown as applied.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis application and in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fragmental portion of the lower end of a hollow perforated hosiery form with one form of my present invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of holding device,

Fig. 3 is a similar view of still another modification of the device, and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33, Fig. l.

1 represents the hollow metal form which may or `may not be perforated as desired. 2 represents a plurality of suitably spaced vertically disposed grooves or channels formed in the outer face of the walls of the form. These grooves may be any desired length, and, as a preferred construction,

have in their upper ends the concaved cups or depressions 3, which are deeper than the remainder of the channels.

A thin metal band or collar 4 is shaped to snugly fit about the form l and has rigidly fixed to the inner wall thereof the upstanding wire garment-holding members 5 which are so spaced as to register with and traverse the'channels 2.

The eXtreme upper end of each holding member 5 isV bent inwardly toward 'the form, as at 6, then outwardly, forming the hook 7, the point of which extends slightly beyond the outer surface of the form l, eX- cept when the holding members are in their extreme uppermost position, with the backs 6 of the hooks-nested in the cups 3, when they will be wholly back of a plane with the outer surface of the form.

Then in this latter position the form is ready for application of a garment thereto, which may be freely slid down over the hooks without engaging same. i

The band a has formed upon its two opposed narrowest sides projections 8, by which it is manually slid up and down upon the form and is made to fit snugly to establish the proper frictional contact therewith.

T he holding members 5 are of spring wire and are so shaped as to at all times impinge the bottom of the channels 2 when being reciprocated therein and thus increase the frictional contact of the holder and also insure the hooks at the ends thereof automatically springing into the depressions 3 of the channels when registering therewith and thus withdrawing from engagement with the garment being held.

In applying a garment to a form, both hands of the operator are employed, one about each edge of the form and frictionally engaging the garment thereupon.

When the garment Vis thus being drawn down to its limits on the form, the lower edges of the hands of the operator will naturally engage the extensions' 8 of the band l and cause it to be depressed, thus forcing the hooks 7 outwardly into engagement with the garment and by which it is securely held after the application is completed.

In removing. the garment, all that is necessary is to raise the band l until the hooks 7 enter the depressions 3, when they will be .automatically withdrawn from engagement with the garment and the latter freed to be removed in the usual manner,

1While l have shown. a depression at the upper ends only of the channels, into which the hooks on the ends of the wires recede, it is evident that there may be other parallel rows of such depressions 'further down in the channels.

Such would be provided to accommodate different lengths of garments being dried and the hooks could be depressed in any set desired to accommodate the garment.

lt is further evident that the channels 2 might be formed in direct alinement with rows oi the pertorations 9 when applied to such forms. ln this event the hooks 7 would automatically recede into the perforations when made to register therewith and thus avoid the necessity of specially prepared depressions, such as illustrated at 3.

In Fig. 2 is illustrated a modified 'form of holding means, comprising an upward extension of the band 10, which corresponds to the band 4, said extension being designated by the numeral ll.

The upper edge of this-extension is of serrated form, resulting in a plurality of tooth-like members l2 which 'are sprung inwardly to normally impinge the outer surface of the form and to automatically recede into the angular depressions 13 shaped in the form and made to register therewith.

The apeXes of the tooth-like members l2 are turned outwardly, forming suitable hooks 14C for engagement with the garment when placed upon the form and for holding same in a like manner to the hooks .7, in the previously described embodiment of the invention. The depth. of the apeXes, et the recesses 13, is suiicient to allow the hook members Vto recede below a plane with the outer surface ot the form and to permit ot the hooks .lllully releasing themselves from the garment. rlhe operation of this device is in all respects similar to the former.

In Fig. 3 is shown a modiication of the shape of the channels 2, as shown in Fig. l,

such being 'for the simple purpose oii con-.

tractingthesides et the open terminus and more permanently fixing the edge creases of the garment being dried and shaped. For this purpose the channels El on either side of the centermost one, are curved outwardly and upwardly and may vary somewhat in their curvature, the ones nearest the center being more curved than the others, so that less inwardly drawing stress is put upon the garment by the hooks farthest trom the center et the form.

The wire members 5 being resilient, as before described, will readily conform to and traverse the arcuate form of the channels.

In drying garments such as hosiery or the like, it is well known how unshapely the extremeedge of the open end of thegarment becomes objectienably iiared and to avoid this is the object oi' the contractile influence of the inwardly traversing holding members shown in this tigure of the drawings.

rlaving thus described my invention, what ll claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The combination with a garment shaping and drying form of the character described, of vertically reciprocable means extending wholly about the base of the form and carried thereby for holding the garment equally on all sides thereof. V

2. The combination with a garment drying and shaping form ot the character described, ot a plurality of depressions about the lower portion of the form, a plurality of holding means coperatively engageable within the depressions and holding the garment from the inner side thereof.

3. The combination with a garment drying and shaping form of the character described, of a plurality of vertically disposed depressions in the outer face of the Jform adjacent the base thereof, said depressions being deeper at theirnpper ends, a vertically reciprocable band around the form below the upper ends of the depressions, upstanding resilient holding members operative within the depressions, and means upon the resilient members for engaging and holding the garment in position on the form.

4. The combination with a garment drying and shaping form of the character described, et a plurality et vertically disposed channels in the outer face of the Jform adjacent the base thereof, said channels being deeper at their upper ends, a vertically reciprocable band around the form below the upper ends of the channels, upwardly eX- tending wires fixed to the band andregistering within the channels, and garment engaging hooks formed on the upper ends of the wires and normally depressible within the deeper portions of the channels and thus treed from engagement with the garment on the form when desired.

5. The combination with a garment drying and shapingiorm substantially as described, ot depressible circumterentially contractile garment holdi means about the base et the form, whereby the sides of the garment are dried in a contracted state.

6. rlhe combination with a garment shaping and drying form of the characterdescribed, of recip'rocable means slidably carried against the base ot the form and engaging the garment upon theinterior for holding it equally upon all sides of the term.

7. The combination with a garment drying and shaping form of the character described, of a series of spaced depressions about the lower portion of the form, a band slidably carried by the form below the de-- pressions and resilient members carried by the band which register With the depressions and engage a garment Carried by the forni alternately by the reciproeation of the band.

'8. The combination with a garment drying and shaping form substantially as described having depressible garment holding means about the base of the form, of means whereby the opposite sides of the garment l0 engaged by the holding means are contracted laterally in respect to each side and thus dried.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

EARL M. VITHERELL.

Witnesses A. M. OUELLETTE, S. GEO. STEVENS. 

